Cairo, Washington to Coordinate over Egypt's Hosting of COP27

Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. (Egyptian Government)
Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. (Egyptian Government)
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Cairo, Washington to Coordinate over Egypt's Hosting of COP27

Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. (Egyptian Government)
Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. (Egyptian Government)

Cairo and Washington expressed on Thursday a desire to cooperate ahead of the 27th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), expected to be held in Sharm El Sheikh at the end of the year.

During a telephone call, Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry agreed to form a joint working group to prepare for the upcoming Summit.

An Egyptian government statement said Fouad stressed that both sides agreed on the importance of building on the outcomes of COP26, which was held in Glasgow in November 2021.

The two sides tackled the Egypt-US joint cooperation program meant to confront climate change consequences within the framework of the 2050 climate change national strategy.

They agreed on working on implementing climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

“Developed countries need to fulfill their pledges to provide the necessary funding,” the two officials said.

Fouad and Kerry then discussed the prospects of the private sector’s engagement in Egypt’s climate-related projects in the energy sector.

According to the statement, Kerry conveyed the US keenness on supporting Egypt to host the COP27.

He said his country is keen to cooperate with several countries, including Mexico, India, and South Africa, to support their efforts to counter the effects of climate change.



UN Human Rights Office: 798 People Killed while Receiving Aid in Gaza

Palestinians carry containers for water at a camp for the displaced in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry containers for water at a camp for the displaced in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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UN Human Rights Office: 798 People Killed while Receiving Aid in Gaza

Palestinians carry containers for water at a camp for the displaced in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry containers for water at a camp for the displaced in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UN human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded at least 798 killings both at aid points run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups, including the UN.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel says had let militants divert aid.

The United Nations has called the plan "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.

"Up until the seventh of July, we've recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys," OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May and has repeatedly denied that incidents had occurred at its sites.